Trevor Rosenthal

If you want to break down the difference between winning and losing for the A’s and the Cardinals Sunday at the Coliseum, you have to look to the seventh inning.

You have to look at the run the Cardinals did not get and the run that the A’s did score.

After six innings, the A’s had a 6-5 lead and had dipped into the bullpen for lefty Sean Doolittle. The Cardinals got a leadoff double from Matt Carpenter, who looped a ball down the left field line in wide-open turf and suddenly the Cardinals’ high-powered offense was primed with the National League’s leading hitter, Yadier Molina, at the plate.